Civil War monument targeted by veterans
Arizonans gather to urge its immediate removal
Protesters’ chants reverberated throughout the Capitol Mall almost daily in recent weeks as the space became a focal point for local protests against a host of issues including systemic racism, police brutality and a national reckoning with the history of the Civil War.
Wednesday morning, though, things started with the Pledge of Allegiance.
A group of about 20 Arizona veterans, some with VetsForward, gathered around the monument to Confederate soldiers in Wesley Bolin plaza to demand Gov. Doug Ducey immediately remove it.
“We fought for liberty and freedom,” said Corey Harris, a U.S. Army veteran who was stationed in Iraq during Operation Enduring Freedom. “This stands in opposition of that.”
More than 80 Arizona veterans have signed onto a letter circulated by VetsForward, a progressive veterans’ group, starting on Tuesday. It calls on Ducey to remove Confederate monuments across the state. More than 500,000 veterans live in Arizona.
“As veterans who have fought for our nation, for our freedom, we implore you to remove these monuments, built to honor those who took up arms and chose war over public discourse, for the purpose of denying other Americans’ freedom,” the letter reads.
The group plans to continue the letter signing campaign through the end of the week before delivering it to Ducey, according to a VetsForward director at the gathering near the Capitol.
“I hope that Governor Ducey is able to see this through the eyes of veterans,” Harris said. “Our heritage is freedom and liberty and that should be his response to anyone who says these people who fought against our country are our heritage.”
Confederate monuments across the nation have been relocated or removed in recent weeks, but Arizona has yet to take any significant action regarding monuments honoring Confederate troops scattered across the state.
Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, called on state officials to move the monument from the plaza to the storage room of Arizona Capitol Museum earlier this month. Ducey responded saying he would like a “public process” to decide the fate of the monument but has not expanded on what he thinks that process should look like.
Meanwhile, the Arizona-shaped memorial remains a focal point for activists and community leaders, who say it is a statement of hate and must be removed.
The stone monument was doused with red paint ahead of protests at the state Capitol Friday evening by a
29-year-old man who says he acted alone.
Workers power washed the sculpture Saturday to remove the paint. Though, remnants of pebbles covered in red paint were scattered around the monument as veterans gathered Wednesday morning.
Trump addresses monuments
While pressing topics such as high unemployment and rising coronavirus infection rates were left largely unaddressed, President Donald Trump railed against the removal or destruction of statues during his Tuesday rally in Phoenix.
He mentioned memorials to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Ulysses S. Grant.
“They want the Confederate soldiers, but all of the sudden, they go after Grant,” Trump said.
“How about Gandhi? How about Churchill?” he asked, suggesting the movement to remove statues was expanding outside of the United States.
“We’ll stop it. Don’t worry, 10 years is a long time to spend in prison,” he said and was answered by a roar of cheers from his supporters at the rally, where the state’s top Republicans including Ducey and Sen. Martha McSally were in the audience.
Trump announced his plans to issue an executive order protecting statues and other historical monuments Tuesday, saying it would “reinforce” current law.
The monuments should be cherished symbol of history, he argued.
“We have to understand our history,” he said. “Because if we don’t understand our history it could all happen again.”
Monument erected during Civil Rights movement
But Signa Oliver, a Black U.S. Army veteran and former Phoenix police officer, said these monuments were not erected for a historical purpose, but rather “a mythological one.”
“They were erected to glamorize this mythology of the people who stood against the freedoms of people with the skin hue of mine,” she said. “We’re still having this conversation in 2020, so I would say their mission was accomplished.”
The monument honoring Confederate troops was a gift from the United Daughters of the Confederacy in the early 1960s. Members of the group dressed in “costumes” from the 1850s posed around the monument as it was dedicated on Feb. 14, 1962 — the 50th anniversary of Arizona statehood, archives of Arizona Republic newspapers show. Secretary of State Wesley Bolin, now the plaza’s namesake, spoke at the monument’s dedication ceremony.
Historians and activists say these monuments, erected at the height of the Civil Rights movement, were attempts to whitewash the history of the Civil War and silence those fighting for their rights almost a century later.
Jarvis Reddick, commander of historically Black American Legion Post 65 and a U.S. Air Force veteran, said the monument is offensive to all veterans, especially as a Black veteran himself.
“Why are we claiming Confederate soldiers as veterans?” Reddick asked. “They fought against the United States.”
The United Daughters of the Confederacy could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but have defended the monument in the past arguing that Confederate soldiers are ancestors who should not be judged by modern values.
Democrat plans to introduce legislation on monument
Rep. Richard Andrade, D-Glendale, announced his plans to introduce legislation to remove the Confederate memorial in Wesley Bolin plaza in the next legislative session.
Andrade said the memorial is a symbol of oppression, discrimination, racism, slavery and hate.
“Arizona needs to step up against all forms of hate and racism by removing all forms of symbols which represent the defeated and conquered Confederacy,” Andrade said at the press conference with the veterans’ group.
The director of the Arizona Department of Administration has the power to remove the monument without legislation. Andrade said he hopes Ducey will address the issue sooner, but said he has support from fellow Democratic veteran colleagues to introduce the legislation should it come to that point.
Patrick Ptak, a spokesperson for Gov. Ducey, said the Governor’s Office is working with the Department of Administration on this issue. Ptak did not provide further details about what progress has been made.